Major League Baseball Player. One of the three Baseball Playing Cross Brothers of Cleveland, Ohio. Lave Cross played for Philadelphia teams in four different leagues. Primarily a catcher for the first part of his career,he then switched to the infield where he excelled at 3rd base. He played 3rd using his catcher's mitt, which caused a rule change preventing such tactics. On August 5, 1897, he set a ML record for most assists by a second baseman in a game with 15 over 12 innings. Cross left the Phillies in 1898 to become the third baseman for St. Louis (NL). He also was the manager for the first 38 games of 1899, for the Cleveland Spiders (NL), who compiled the worst record in ML history (20-134). In 1901, the first AL season, he joined the Philadelphia Athletics. He batted .290 or better over seven straight seasons from (1898-1904). Lave's brother, Amos, was a catcher for Louisville (AA) in 1885-87, and his other brother, Frank, played one game for Cleveland (AL) in 1901. Over a 21 season major league career, he acrued a liftime average of .292 with 2645 hits, 47 HR and 1371 RBI. His statistics are gaudy enough for the Hall Of Fame, better or equal to those of his contemporaries, including Jimmy Collins and George Davis, yet he has largely been forgotten. He died from a heart attack on his way to work at the Willys Overland Automotive plant on September 6, 1927 at the age of 61.
Major League Baseball Player. One of the three Baseball Playing Cross Brothers of Cleveland, Ohio. Lave Cross played for Philadelphia teams in four different leagues. Primarily a catcher for the first part of his career,he then switched to the infield where he excelled at 3rd base. He played 3rd using his catcher's mitt, which caused a rule change preventing such tactics. On August 5, 1897, he set a ML record for most assists by a second baseman in a game with 15 over 12 innings. Cross left the Phillies in 1898 to become the third baseman for St. Louis (NL). He also was the manager for the first 38 games of 1899, for the Cleveland Spiders (NL), who compiled the worst record in ML history (20-134). In 1901, the first AL season, he joined the Philadelphia Athletics. He batted .290 or better over seven straight seasons from (1898-1904). Lave's brother, Amos, was a catcher for Louisville (AA) in 1885-87, and his other brother, Frank, played one game for Cleveland (AL) in 1901. Over a 21 season major league career, he acrued a liftime average of .292 with 2645 hits, 47 HR and 1371 RBI. His statistics are gaudy enough for the Hall Of Fame, better or equal to those of his contemporaries, including Jimmy Collins and George Davis, yet he has largely been forgotten. He died from a heart attack on his way to work at the Willys Overland Automotive plant on September 6, 1927 at the age of 61.
Bio by: Frank Russo
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